Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusBuy38 ratings
Bullish3079.0%
Neutral718.4%
Bearish12.6%
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. · CFG · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026
CFG Q2: Record Revenue and Operating Leverage Drive 41% YoY EPS Growth
Citizens Financial Group delivered a strong Q2 2026, with EPS rising 15% sequentially and 41% year-over-year to $1.30, beating consensus by 4%. Revenue of $2.283B exceeded estimates by 1.4%. The quarter was driven by 4.4% NII growth, record capital markets fees, and continued private bank expansion, with the private bank contributing 11.5% of pretax income. ROTCE improved to 13.9% and operating leverage exceeded 600 bps year-over-year. The bank is executing on its Reimagine the Bank transformation and NEXT branch optimization, targeting $100M in annualized pretax benefits by year-end 2026 and a mid-50s efficiency ratio. Management maintained full-year guidance and expressed confidence in continued NIM expansion and loan growth.
Reported Before market openNYSEFinancial Services
$30.16B market cap
100quality score
Company context
Snapshot as of publicationCitizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) functions as the holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association, a major financial institution offering a comprehensive suite of retail and commercial banking solutions across the United States. It serves a broad spectrum of clients, from individual consumers and small enterprises to large corporations and various institutions. Its business is segmented into two primary divisions: Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking division delivers a robust array of products, encompassing deposit accounts, mortgage and home equity lending, credit cards, and business loans for smaller entities. It also provides wealth management, investment services, and specialized financing for areas like auto, education, and point-of-sale purchases, alongside digital deposit solutions. Clients engage with this segment through contact centers and its advanced online and mobile banking platforms.…
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$1.30
Consensus $1
EPS surprise
+4.0%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$2.28B
Consensus $2.25B
Revenue surprise
+1.4%
Reported versus consensus
Earnings History
Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$70.97Current
$33Low
$61.08Average
$90High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 30, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 29, 2026 |
| Truist Securities | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Jul 21, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 20, 2026 |
| Stephens & Co. | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jul 17, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI Group | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 17, 2026 |
| DA Davidson | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Barclays | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Baird | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 16, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 15, 2026 |
| UBS | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 7, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jun 29, 2026 |
| Argus Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 23, 2026 |
| TD Cowen | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 22, 2026 |
| B of A Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Outperform | Strong Buy | Downgrade | Jan 7, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Apr 17, 2025 |
| Goldman Sachs | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 17, 2025 |
| Compass Point | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Dec 10, 2024 |
| Wedbush | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Apr 18, 2024 |
| Wolfe Research | Peer Perform | Underperform | Upgrade | Oct 23, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 20, 2023 |
| Deutsche Bank | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Sep 12, 2022 |
| Citi | Sell | Neutral | Downgrade | Oct 8, 2019 |
| Argus | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Jul 29, 2019 |
| Macquarie | Outperform | Neutral | Upgrade | Nov 27, 2018 |
| BMO Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Oct 22, 2018 |
| Bank of America | Buy | Underperform | Upgrade | Oct 22, 2018 |
| Sandler O'Neill | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Apr 23, 2018 |
| Bernstein | Outperform | Market Perform | Upgrade | Sep 14, 2017 |
| PiperJaffray | Overweight | Neutral | Upgrade | Apr 21, 2017 |
| Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Market Perform | Upgrade | Nov 29, 2016 |
| Oppenheimer | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Nov 15, 2016 |
| Wells Fargo | Outperform | Market Perform | Upgrade | May 13, 2016 |
| Guggenheim | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Aug 26, 2015 |
| Evercore Partners | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Nov 3, 2014 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $70.97. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argus Research | Kevin Heal | $80 | $72.57 | +12.7% | Jul 29, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $80 | $71.5 | +12.7% | Jul 21, 2026 |
| D.A. Davidson | Analyst unavailable | $85 | $74.4 | +19.8% | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Stephens | Matt Breese | $70 | $74.4 | -1.4% | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $75 | $74.4 | +5.7% | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $90 | $74.1 | +26.8% | Jul 16, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | John Pancari | $80 | $71.7 | +12.7% | Jul 6, 2026 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $72 | $70.98 | +1.5% | Jul 6, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $72 | $68.99 | +1.5% | Jun 24, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $75 | $66.47 | +5.7% | Apr 21, 2026 |
| D.A. Davidson | Analyst unavailable | $74 | $64.45 | +4.3% | Apr 20, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Gerard Cassidy | $70 | $64.97 | -1.4% | Apr 17, 2026 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $65 | $58.31 | -8.4% | Mar 9, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | John Pancari | $77 | $66.51 | +8.5% | Feb 5, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $71 | $62.62 | +0.0% | Jan 26, 2026 |
| Argus Research | Kevin Heal | $72 | $63.64 | +1.5% | Jan 23, 2026 |
| New Street | Analyst unavailable | $73 | $65.43 | +2.9% | Jan 22, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $67 | $65.07 | -5.6% | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $73 | $64.06 | +2.9% | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Jefferies | David Chiaverini | $80 | $64.06 | +12.7% | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Raymond James | David Long | $66 | $62.14 | -7.0% | Jan 7, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $69 | $61.2 | -2.8% | Jan 6, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Ryan Nash | $73 | $61.23 | +2.9% | Jan 6, 2026 |
| Barclays | Jason Goldberg | $77 | $59.39 | +8.5% | Jan 5, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $63 | $59.59 | -11.2% | Dec 22, 2025 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $60 | $58.46 | -15.5% | Dec 11, 2025 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $56 | $48.39 | -21.1% | Oct 17, 2025 |
| Stephens | Q3 EPS | $60 | $50.64 | -15.5% | Oct 16, 2025 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $62 | $53.16 | -12.6% | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $62 | $54 | -12.6% | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Truist Financial | Brian Foran | $58 | $52.98 | -18.3% | Oct 3, 2025 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $61 | $53.65 | -14.0% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Manan Gosalia | $71 | $53.38 | +0.0% | Sep 29, 2025 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $57 | $52.27 | -19.7% | Sep 17, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $57 | $47.03 | -19.7% | Jul 2, 2025 |
| Argus Research | Kevin Heal | $45 | $36.95 | -36.6% | Apr 24, 2025 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $51 | $41.19 | -28.1% | Mar 21, 2025 |
| Raymond James | David Long | $58 | $44.7 | -18.3% | Jan 21, 2025 |
| D.A. Davidson | Peter Winter | $48 | $42 | -32.4% | Oct 17, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Gerard Cassidy | $45 | $42.41 | -36.6% | Oct 17, 2024 |
| Citigroup | Keith Horowitz | $50 | $42.41 | -29.5% | Oct 17, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | John Pancari | $46 | $39.92 | -35.2% | Oct 2, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Manan Gosalia | $50 | $39.2 | -29.5% | Aug 5, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Scott Siefers | $48 | $43.5 | -32.4% | Jul 26, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Manan Gosalia | $41 | $40.92 | -42.2% | Jul 17, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Scott Siefers | $41 | $35.15 | -42.2% | Apr 26, 2024 |
| Wedbush | David Chiaverini | $35 | $33.05 | -50.7% | Apr 18, 2024 |
| UBS | Erika Najarian | $40 | $35.12 | -43.6% | Apr 4, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Betsy Graseck | $33 | $26.96 | -53.5% | Aug 25, 2023 |
| Robert W. Baird | David George | $44 | $27.97 | -38.0% | May 23, 2023 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $57 | $39.37 | -19.7% | Jan 3, 2023 |
| D.A. Davidson | Analyst unavailable | $47 | $38.64 | -33.8% | Dec 21, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $53 | $41.7 | -25.3% | Dec 5, 2022 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $41 | $34.45 | -42.2% | Oct 3, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst unavailable | $50 | $39.12 | -29.5% | Sep 12, 2022 |
| Barclays | Jason Goldberg | $54 | $37.97 | -23.9% | Jul 31, 2022 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $55 | $36.27 | -22.5% | Jul 7, 2022 |
| Stephens | Analyst unavailable | $48 | $35.83 | -32.4% | Jun 13, 2022 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $49 | $40.87 | -31.0% | May 31, 2022 |
| Wolfe Research | Analyst unavailable | $33 | $39.6 | -53.5% | May 26, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Matt O'Connor | $56 | $51.7 | -21.1% | Jan 28, 2022 |
| Credit Suisse | Susan Roth Katzke | $50 | $50.72 | -29.5% | Jan 24, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Jill Shea | $65 | $55.21 | -8.4% | Jan 12, 2022 |
| Barclays | Jason Goldberg | $62 | $48.77 | -12.6% | Jan 3, 2022 |
| Bank of America Securities | Ebrahim Poonawala | $52 | $42.92 | -26.7% | Jul 21, 2021 |
| Evercore ISI | John Pancari | $50 | $48.68 | -29.5% | May 28, 2021 |
| Piper Sandler | Kevin Barker | $54 | $48.86 | -23.9% | May 27, 2021 |
| Compass Point | Dave Rochester | $55 | $48.42 | -22.5% | May 18, 2021 |
| Argus Research | Kevin Heal | $50 | $43.15 | -29.5% | Apr 19, 2021 |
Track every rating change on CFG the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeMarket reaction
prior-close to event-session close
Stock move
+4.6%
Event window
SPY move
-0.5%
Same window
Abnormal move
+5.2%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
1.9×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
-4.2%
Up to 20 sessions
CFGSPY benchmark
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Try FN2 freeTranscript intelligence
What changed
Management tone shifted from cautious in Q1 to confident in Q2, reflecting record operating leverage and sequential EPS improvement. The capex outlook increased from stable to increasing as the NEXT branch strategy was formally announced, with plans to close 100-120 in-store branches and add specialist-advisory locations. Private bank expansion accelerated, with the target raised from nine offices at the end of Q1 to 15-16 locations by end-2027. Share repurchases totaled $422M in Q2, up meaningfully from prior quarters. ROTCE reached 13.9% with operating leverage improving over 600 bps year-over-year.
Guidance delta
Maintained. Management reaffirmed its full-year 2026 outlook and its longer-term targets, including a 16-18% ROTCE by 2027, a mid-50s efficiency ratio, and the $450M Reimagine the Bank pretax benefit by 2028. No guidance was raised or lowered.
Key takeaways
- Q2 revenue and operating leverage were both record-high, driving a 15% sequential EPS increase to $1.30 and a 4% beat versus consensus.
- The private bank contributed 11.5% of pretax income with strong deposit and loan growth, validating the franchise expansion strategy.
- Reimagine the Bank and NEXT branch optimization are progressing on schedule, with $100M in annualized pretax benefits expected by year-end and a mid-50s efficiency ratio in sight.
- NIM expansion and loan growth are expected to keep NII growth ahead of consensus through 2027, supported by a constructive outlook on deposit costs.
- Capital position remains strong with CET1 at 10.4% and $422M of share repurchases in the quarter.
Management priorities
- Complete the Reimagine the Bank program, targeting $450M in pretax benefits by 2028, with $100M annualized exiting 2026.
- Implement the NEXT branch strategy by closing 100-120 in-store branches and adding specialist-focused advisory locations.
- Expand the private bank to 15-16 offices by end-2027, with near-term focus on Florida and the Northeast.
- Maintain a 16-18% ROTCE target by 2027 with a mid-50s efficiency ratio.
Related earnings events
Financial ServicesHIG · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026The Hartford Beats on Q2 Core Earnings, Divests Hartford Funds, Expands Buyback to $4.2BAXP · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026AXP Q2 2026: Platinum Card Drives 10% Revenue Growth, Full-Year Guidance RaisedHBAN · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026Huntington Bancshares Q2 2026: Strong Organic Growth, EPS Miss on Deposit Cost Pressure
Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-07-16T16:03:04.492538+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-30T01:23:13.872335+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-30T12:21:03.705073+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-30T12:21:03.702155+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.